U.S. Forest Service · Cabin Creek Wildlife And Recreation Management Area · MT

Cabin Creek Cabin

ReservableBookable through December 31; a peak season follows January 1 to April 7.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:46 UTC
Sites
1All of them booked ahead
8,610 ftElevation
235 ftWater · Middle Fork Cabin Creek
15.4 miNW of West Yellowstone, MT
63%Tree cover
Bortle 2Night sky · 174th darkest of 501 in MT

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 12 notices

In the agency’s own words

Cabin Creek Cabin is a primitive, rustic, single-room structure that was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. It offers a few basic amenities, so guests will need to bring most of their own supplies and gear to ensure an enjoyable experience. Cabin Creek Cabin is closed during the spring season due to weather and trail conditions. The cabin is open during the summer, fall, and winter months; June to March. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and they must bring several of their own amenities. This cabin is not accessible by vehicle. Keep reading

Recreation

Cabin Creek is surrounded by hiking, horseback riding, and mountain biking trails as well as ATV/UTV and motorcyles routes subject to seasonal restrictions and delayed open dates. Please contact the Hebgen Lake Ranger District to obtain open dates. Hikers and equestrians have trailhead access to the Monument Mountain Unit of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness, which climbs 10,995 feet in elevation to the Monument Peak. There is a hitching rail provided for stock use. The Big Sky Snowmobile Trail used to access the cabin in winter provides challenging backcountry snowmobiling. The area offers excellent big game hunting opportunities in the fall.

Facilities

The cabin can sleep up to three persons, with a maximum group size of four persons for overnight use. The cabin has a seven night maximum stay per group. The cabin has one bunk bed platform and three cots. A wood stove is available to heat the cabin, but firewood is not provided. Do not cut green trees for firewood. Basic cookware, dishes, an axe, shovel, broom, mop, and a table with chairs are provided. An outhouse with a vault toilet is located outside and adjacent to the cabin. A hitching rail for stock is available. Drinking water, electricity, and firewood are not provided. Guests need to bring their own water supply and firewood, since wood is scarce around the cabin. Garbage bags are also necessary for guests to pack out all trash. A stock pot is provided for boiling water. It is strongly recommended that campers bring their own back country cookware and dishes for use. Lanterns or flashlights are not provided. Items like bedding, dish soap, matches, first aid supplies, and extra toilet paper are not available. Guests are expected to clean the cabin prior to leaving. Please be aware that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service is not cleaning this rental cabin between user visits. To protect health and safety for all cabin visitors, we recommend you clean all "high touch surfaces" when you arrive and before you leave. Cleaning supplies are not provided; you are expected to bring your own. Leave nothing behind - pack it in, pack it out. Please take any garbage, food, books, and personal items with you. Immediately report any unsanitary conditions to the local Ranger Station.

Natural Features

The cabin sits at an elevation of approximately 8,700 feet, among a stand of mixed conifers. Middle Fork Cabin Creek flows nearby. The surrounding meadow and forests give way to the peaks of the Madison Range. The Lee Metcalf Wilderness and Cabin Creek Wildlife Management Area are nearby. Wildlife species in this area include grizzly bears, elk, gray wolves, bighorn sheep, deer, and moose.

Nearby Attractions

Yellowstone National Park is approximately 20 miles from Cabin Creek Cabin, which makes it an ideal destination for a day trip. The surrounding area also holds Hegben and Earthquake lakes as well as the Earthquake Lake Visitor Center

What the agency tells you

Rule

Please be aware that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service is not cleaning this rental cabin between user visits. To protect health and safety for all cabin visitors, we recommend you clean all "high touch surfaces" when you arrive and before you leave. Cleaning supplies are not provided; you are expected to bring your own. Leave nothing behind - pack it in, pack it out. Please take any garbage, food, books, and personal items with you. Immediately report any unsanitary conditions to the local Ranger Station.

Rule

This is a backcountry cabin; expect a 6-7 mile hike one way

Rule

Make sure to have the lock combination for the cabin door; the combination code to the cabin is included in the confirmation e-mail or letter.

Everything else this campground posts · 9
Rule

Water is not available in the cabin; water obtained from nearby natural water sources should be treated prior to use.

Rule

No garbage service. Please bring garbage bags and pack out all trash and personal belongings.

Rule

Grizzly bears frequent the area; store all attractants (coolers, food, beverages, stock feed, garbage, toiletrie, etc,) inside the cabin. Hebgen Lake Ranger District staff will be patrolling for compliance with the Food Storage Order in the cabin vicinity throughout the season.

Rule

Please use minimum impact techniques for holding stock, and scatter manure in consideration of other visitors to the cabin.

Rule

Hay and feed brought to the site for stock must be certified weed-free.

Rule

Candles are not allowed at the cabin.

Rule

Do not leave pets unattended.

Rule

Firewood is not provided.

Rule

Weather conditions vary. Please check forecast and road condtitions before your visit.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
1 · 1 cabin
Hookups
None
Accessible sites
None listed
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Vault Toilets
“…chairs are provided. An outhouse with a vault toilet is located outside and adjacent to the cabin. A…”
Drinking water
None, bring your own
“…are not provided. Guests need to bring their own water supply and firewood, since wood is scarce around…”
Firewood
Mentioned
Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026
Water, toilets and showers: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
Lake, Creek, Meadow
Hiking
Horseback riding
Hunting
Wildlife viewing
Winter sports
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

2 of 2 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:46 UTC

Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.

OpenBooked

Booking windowThrough December 31Bookable now through December 31, 2026, the end of the off-peak season. The peak season that follows runs January 1, 2027 through April 7, 2027; recreation.gov releases it on its own schedule, so check there before counting on those nights.recreation.gov
Max stay7 nightsthe facility record
Sites, a night, from$65From the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. U.S. Forest Service publishes no campground-level rate we can read.derived by CAMPANAC
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
Watch for a cancellation

Full? Watch it.

One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Tell me when the season opens

Watch for the season to open

One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

We’ll write once, when the season that starts Fri, Jan 1 2027 is open for booking.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 12

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
Sites, a night, from$65
Derived by CAMPANAC from the rate schedule matched to 1 of its 1 sites. U.S. Forest Service publishes no campground-level rate for this campground that we can read, only per-site rate templates its own record matches to each site’s own type.
Group area, a night$65
Rates for the season the campground is in now, Jun 15, 2026 to Dec 31, 2026.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
What a stay costs
The agency publishes no nightly rate for this campground, so there’s nothing to add the $8 booking fee to. We won’t total a receipt with a number missing from it.
If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

Who keeps the booking fee

The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →

How we know this receipt · 5

recreation.gov availability, read 16:46 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

1 sites · the site map

All 1 sites

1 of 1 sites located
Cabin or shelter1
Aerial · Esri World Imagery
Up to

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

AREA CABIN CREEK CABIN001cabin nonelectric11 ft$65

OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Coordinate44.88621, -111.19913
The phone406-823-6961 (FOR CABIN AND ROAD INFORMATION - NO BOOKING)
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

Summer access from West Yellowstone:  

Hiking, mountain biking, or horseback riding: Take U.S. Highway 287 to Forest Service Road 681, Red Canyon Rd, then to the Red Canyon Trailhead. Follow trail #205 approximately 5 miles to the junction with Cabin Creek Trail, then an additional 1 mile to the cabin. This is a backcountry cabin, expect a 6-7 mile hike one way.

Motorcycle: Access is possible via motorcycle July 16 - Oct 14 only due to motorized trail restrictions. Take U.S. Highway 287 to Forest Service Road 681, Red Canyon Rd, then to the Red Canyon Trailhead. Follow Trail #205 approximately 5 miles to the junction with Cabin Creek Trail, then an additional 1 mile to the cabin. 

ATV/UTV: Access is possible for wheeled vehicles 50" or less in width July 16-Dec 1 due to motorized trail restrictions. Take U.S. Highway 191 to Forest Service Road 986, Tepee Creek Rd, then to Tepee Creek Trailhead. Follow trail #151 approximately 3.5 miles to the junction with Cabin Creek Trail #205. ATV/UTV riders must park at the junction and hike an additional 1 mile to the cabin. There is no direct cabin access via ATV/UTV. 

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Today47°Sunny
Tonight28°Partly Cloudy
Saturday47°Sunny
Saturday Night29°Partly Cloudy

NWS forecast for Hebgen Lake Estates, MT

Typical weather

Typical October night 22°F, day 46°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical February night 1°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

80°32°-10°

Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more

A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: YELLOWSTONE LAKE, WY (USW00094173), 45 miles away and 775 ft lower

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless
Cabin Creek Wildlife Management Area Ocd35,048 acres · 3 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Lionhead33,549 acres · 10 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Who answers for this land

Ryan Zinke, official portrait

Cabin Creek Cabin is in Montana’s 1st congressional district. Its representative, Ryan Zinke (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: recreation.gov is offering sites on 30 of the next 30 nights, which isn’t something a closed campground does.
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.
Nearest place of any size: Hebgen Lake Estates, MT, 7.8 mi N (a census designated place). Straight line.